Dear All,

I have an 8 week old Lurcher pup - half deerhound, one quarter greyhound and
one quarter collie. I know that sighthounds are not the best breed of dog to
train, but wondered if anyone had experience with this type of dog. I'm
hoping the collie part of her brain might give her more "smarts" than the
average sighthound.

So far, I have had her for a week, and we have got "sit" pretty well
ingrained, as well as "come" (well - actually my "come" command is a short
double whistle, but....). She also responds to "Drop It" when she has
something in her mouth she shouldn't. She is now pretty well housetrained
(fingers crossed) - she will ask to go out if she needs to poop. She's
pretty good at asking if she needs to urinate, but we still get accidents
overnight.

Anyway, I'd like to train her to do both left and right "heel", "down",
"bed" etc.... as basics, then maybe move onto some more advanced stuff. Can
anyone recommend a good book please ? I'm quite interested in the
psychological side of her behaviour and have been using a clicker so far. I
don't want to use an electronic collar or other form of negative
enforcement.

On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 17:51:13 +0100, "adm" wrote:

Dear All,

I have an 8 week old Lurcher pup - half deerhound, one quarter greyhound and
one quarter collie. I know that sighthounds are not the best breed of dog to
train, but wondered if anyone had experience with this type of dog. I'm
hoping the collie part of her brain might give her more "smarts" than the
average sighthound.

It's not a matter of brains, or lack thereof; it's that sighthounds
have been bred to work (hunt) independently of humans, and that means
training is a little different for them. The major difference between
sighthounds and other dogs is that sighthounds are very difficult, if
not impossible, to train to a 100% recall. It's pretty unusual to
have a sighthound that is reliable off-leash; a sighthound will
typically chase anything that moves, and often they'll run just to run
when they have the opportunity, even if there's nothing to chase.
However, collies often have what's referred to as a built-in recall,
so that might go a long way toward offsetting the sighthound
tendencies.

So far, I have had her for a week, and we have got "sit" pretty well
ingrained, as well as "come" (well - actually my "come" command is a short
double whistle, but....). She also responds to "Drop It" when she has
something in her mouth she shouldn't. She is now pretty well housetrained
(fingers crossed) - she will ask to go out if she needs to poop. She's
pretty good at asking if she needs to urinate, but we still get accidents
overnight.

Where is she sleeping overnight? If you keep her in your bedroom,
you'll know if she gets restless and you can let her outside.

Anyway, I'd like to train her to do both left and right "heel", "down",
"bed" etc.... as basics, then maybe move onto some more advanced stuff. Can
anyone recommend a good book please ? I'm quite interested in the
psychological side of her behaviour and have been using a clicker so far. I
don't want to use an electronic collar or other form of negative
enforcement.

I don't use clickers, so can't help you there.

Mustang Sally

"sighthounds & siberians" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 17:51:13 +0100, "adm" wrote:

Dear All,

I have an 8 week old Lurcher pup - half deerhound, one quarter greyhound
and
one quarter collie. I know that sighthounds are not the best breed of dog
to
train, but wondered if anyone had experience with this type of dog. I'm
hoping the collie part of her brain might give her more "smarts" than the
average sighthound.

It's not a matter of brains, or lack thereof; it's that sighthounds
have been bred to work (hunt) independently of humans, and that means
training is a little different for them.
The major difference between
sighthounds and other dogs is that sighthounds are very difficult, if
not impossible, to train to a 100% recall. It's pretty unusual to
have a sighthound that is reliable off-leash; a sighthound will
typically chase anything that moves, and often they'll run just to run
when they have the opportunity, even if there's nothing to chase.

Yeah - and that's what I want her to do - run like the wind and catch
rabbits. She still likes to stay close to me though - hasn't yet got the
need for wild runs, although hopefully this will come soon. We certainly
have plenty space for her to run about like crazy here anyway.

However, collies often have what's referred to as a built-in recall,
so that might go a long way toward offsetting the sighthound
tendencies.

That's kind of what I'm hoping - that the collie genes might play a part.
She's only a quarter collie though...


So far, I have had her for a week, and we have got "sit" pretty well
ingrained, as well as "come" (well - actually my "come" command is a short
double whistle, but....). She also responds to "Drop It" when she has
something in her mouth she shouldn't. She is now pretty well housetrained
(fingers crossed) - she will ask to go out if she needs to poop. She's
pretty good at asking if she needs to urinate, but we still get accidents
overnight.

Where is she sleeping overnight? If you keep her in your bedroom,
you'll know if she gets restless and you can let her outside.

She sleeps in the "messy rom" that we have between the house and garage. I
have a crate for her, but don't lock her in it overnight. She gets some
newspaper on the floor to pee on and normally uses that - sometimes not
though. I don't really want her to sleep in the main house. She's allowed in
during the day, but I want her to sleep in the "messy room" - it's nice and
warm and well ventilated. She's got her own bean bag there that seems like
heaven to her.


Anyway, I'd like to train her to do both left and right "heel", "down",
"bed" etc.... as basics, then maybe move onto some more advanced stuff.
Can
anyone recommend a good book please ? I'm quite interested in the
psychological side of her behaviour and have been using a clicker so far.
I
don't want to use an electronic collar or other form of negative
enforcement.

I don't use clickers, so can't help you there.

What do you use ?

Mustang Sally

On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 10:27:19 +0100, "adm" wrote:

Where is she sleeping overnight? If you keep her in your bedroom,
you'll know if she gets restless and you can let her outside.

She sleeps in the "messy rom" that we have between the house and garage. I
have a crate for her, but don't lock her in it overnight. She gets some
newspaper on the floor to pee on and normally uses that - sometimes not
though. I don't really want her to sleep in the main house. She's allowed in
during the day, but I want her to sleep in the "messy room" - it's nice and
warm and well ventilated. She's got her own bean bag there that seems like
heaven to her.

If you want her to be part of the family, she should live in the house
at all times. If you want to housebreak her, don't encourage her to
pee on newspaper on the floor. What's the crate for, if she's not in
it at night and she's "allowed" in the house during the day?

What do you use ?

Luring. To teach sit to most Greyhounds, I've not find anything that
works other than positioning them.

Mustang Sally

"sighthounds & siberians" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 10:27:19 +0100, "adm" wrote:

Where is she sleeping overnight? If you keep her in your bedroom,
you'll know if she gets restless and you can let her outside.

She sleeps in the "messy rom" that we have between the house and garage. I
have a crate for her, but don't lock her in it overnight. She gets some
newspaper on the floor to pee on and normally uses that - sometimes not
though. I don't really want her to sleep in the main house. She's allowed
in
during the day, but I want her to sleep in the "messy room" - it's nice
and
warm and well ventilated. She's got her own bean bag there that seems like
heaven to her.

If you want her to be part of the family, she should live in the house
at all times.

Hi Sally,

Well - I don't want her to have the run of the house. She spends a lot of
time in the "messy room" anyway, basking in the sun on her beanbag. She also
eats there. I want this to be "her" room. We let her have the run of the
house during the day, but constrain her to this room at night. To be honest,
I don't want a dog sleeping in my bedroom. The gundogs I have had in the
past actually lived outside, so I don't consider this to be a hardship for
her.


If you want to housebreak her, don't encourage her to
pee on newspaper on the floor.

Fair point. i guess that it will only confuse her. She knows she's not meant
to pee anywhere apart from the garden, so encouraging her to do it on a
paper may well be counter productive. I'll just keep working her on peeing
in the garden, and hope her bladder control increase to overnight periods
soon.....


What's the crate for, if she's not in
it at night and she's "allowed" in the house during the day?

It's for her own personal space basically. If she gets fed up with the kids,
she can go there to be left alone. To be honest, I'm consdiering getting rid
of it as when I am out of the house I just give her the run of the messy
room anyway - normally I also leave the yard door open so that she can
choose out or in as suits her.


What do you use ?

Luring. To teach sit to most Greyhounds, I've not find anything that
works other than positioning them.

Ah - she's got "sit" perfectly already. Probably not if there are
distractons around, but certainly in the house and yard. She seemed to get
it into her head in about 2 days - day one was with a clicker and bits of
sausage as treats, bay two was clicker, occasional treats and lots of
praise, then after that, she just sits on command.



Mustang Sally

Howdy adm,
Congrats on getting the lurcher!=A1 When you say you got her to chase
rabbits are you talking just taking her out or are you looking to get
into competiton?=BF Either way here is a book that might be of interest
to you "Sighthounds Afield" by Denise Como. I have no monitary interests
just a satisfied reader. Good luck with the pup.

Frank X. Morris
http://community.webtv.net/Sulkhalil/SalukiCornerChime

Hi Frank,

Thanks - she's a great pup so far.

I'm not looking at competition - just chasing down a few rabbits when we are
out walking. I am lucky enough to live in the country and have several
hundred acres of perfect rabbit territory just next to my backyard !

I'll check out the book - thanks for the recommendation.

Cheers,

adm

"Frank Morris" wrote in message
...
Howdy adm,
Congrats on getting the lurcher!¡ When you say you got her to chase
rabbits are you talking just taking her out or are you looking to get
into competiton?¿ Either way here is a book that might be of interest
to you "Sighthounds Afield" by Denise Como. I have no monitary interests
just a satisfied reader. Good luck with the pup.

Frank X. Morris
http://community.webtv.net/Sulkhalil/SalukiCornerChime

Howdy adm,
Here are some things that you might think about. For safety reasons
try to stay at least a mile from roads. You might want to have a first
aid kit close by. A whistle,bugle or horn. A lot of people carry police
or long range dog training whistles but when I'm around with my "Safety
at Sea Horn" they let me sound off :-) It sounds like the horns they use
at fox hunts. The sound travels much further than the whistles. Then
most important WATER. If the dog knows you have water the faster they
come back after a run. Have fun out there!=A1

Frank X. Morris
http://community.webtv.net/Sulkhalil/SalukiCornerChime

wrote in message
oups.com...
HOWEDY ADM,

If your interest is in FEEDING bunnys to your
dogs perhaps it'd be more HUMANE to trap and
them butcher them in an approved manner rather
than torturing and terrorizing them.

Fair point - but to be honest I don't really care about the bunnies at all.
They are all over the place here and are vermin. Being chased and then
quickly killed by the dog is as good a way as any of dispatching them.

As for exercise, try throwing a ball for her,
that's what dogs LIKE to do as much as chasing
innocent defenseless dumb critters.

Balls aren't as interesting for sighthounds - they roll to a stop too
quickly and do nothing in the way of interesting jinking either.


There AIN'T NO WAY to justify terrorizing
innocent defenseless dumb critters as I've
done to the DOG LOVERS on these forums.

I don't want to justify it - dogs like rabbit meat, dogs can catch rabbits,
sighthounds (especially lurchers) are bred for this, so as far as I am
concerned, the dog can catch her own rabbits. I'll cook them for her before
she gets to eat them though (to get rid of any worms).
..

Yours,

The Amazing Puppy Wizard {); ~ )


adm wrote:
"It's Only Alimentary, Dear Watson" wrote in
message oups.com...
HOWEDY ADM,

adm wrote:
Hi Frank,

Thanks - she's a great pup so far.

She's only 8 weeks of age. You've got PLENTY
of time to make her act just like the rest of
the dogs on these forums.

I'm not looking at competition -

I can't understand the competition of lettin
your dogs run after and murder innocent critters.

just chasing down a few rabbits when we are out walking.

For your pleasure?

For her pleasure really. It's what lurchers like to do.


I am lucky enough to live in the country and have several
hundred acres of perfect rabbit territory just next to my
backyard !

Are you interested in murderin innocent defenseless
dumb critters to protect your gardens? Perhaps there's
better ways to accomplish that task.

Nope. Just murdering them for dog food.

I'll check out the book -

For training your dog to murder innocent critters?

I think she'll figure that out just fine on her own